Trimming attachment for sewing-machines.



PATENTED FEB. 19, 1907. J. ZEL DIS & J. M. WEBB-R.

V TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED 8EPT.B,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

8855 INVEN T085 No. 844,574. PATENTED FEB. 19, 1907. J. ZELDIS & J. M. WEBER. TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH ZELDIS AND JACOB M. W'EBER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PEN NSYLVAN IA,

ASSIGNORS TO LEICESTER AND CONTINENTAL MILLS COMPANY, OF GER- MANTOVVN, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF NET/V JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 19, 1907.

Application filed September 6,1904. Serial No. 223,325-

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, J osnrn ZELDIS, a sub ject of the Czar of Russia, and JACOB M. IVE- BER, a citizen of the United States, both residing in the city of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trimming Attachments for Sew'ing\iacliines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part I of this specification.

Our invention relates to sewing-111achines of the class adapted for the production of appliqu workthat is to say, an ornamental superposed ply of other fabric out or trimmed to a pattern while being stitched to and upon the surface of the main or body fabric; and our invention has for its objects the provi 2o sion of improved cutting or trimming devices and means for mounting and operating the same; also, in improved means for mounting and operating the presser-foot device in coaction with the cutting mechanism; also, in 5 means for feeding a braid to the surface of the upper ply and along the trimmed edge thereof as it is being trimmed and stitched to the lower or body fabric.

To these ends our invention consists of the elements and their combination hereinafterde'scribed and claimed.

Figure 1 is an end elevation of the machine, partly in section as respects the cam mechanism on the power-shaft of the machine to op- 3 5 erate the cutting device and in side elevation as to the needle-bar, the presser-foot and its supporting devices, the cutting mechanism, and the means for supporting and operating it. Fig. 2 is a plan view from the top of the 4 machine of a portion of the power-shaft, the cam mechanism thereon, and the connecting actuating devices for the upper cuttingblade which is actuated by the main powershaft of the machine through said cam. Fig. 3 is a side elevation (from the other side of that shown in Fig. 1) of the cutting device and its supporting and actuating mechan ism, showing also the needle-bar and its rela tion to the braid feed and guide, the presserfoot, and its supporting devices. Fig. 4 is a front view of the parts shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 is an enlarged section, detached, on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

In the several figures the prcsscr-foot is shown in elevated position and the cutting mechanism in downward position in order that the several parts may be seen in the sev eral side elevations.

The principle of construction involved in the mechanism described will be seen from the drawings and said. description to be, first, the provision and mounting of a pair of cutting-blades like a pair of shears, with this modification, that the lower cutting member is operatively stationary over the lower ply of fabric, is suspended over it, and passes beneath the upper ply, while the upper cutting member consists of a blade on the end of a lever which is rocked to produce a shear-like movement of the blade relatively to the lower and operatively-stationary blade and relatively to the u iper ply of fabric drawn. between the two by the feed mechanism, means being provided to guide the upper cutting-blade relatively to the lower blade and to the presser-foot in its rocking shear-like movements; next, the provision of cam mechanism directly on the main power-shaft of the machine, which, through appropriate connecting devices, rocks a bell-crank lever carrying on its end the upper cutting shearblade in unison of time with the stitch-forming and feeding devices; next, the provision of means as part of the presser-foot device and also as part of the cutting device to feed and guide, respectively, a narrow braid to the sewing mechanism and to the upper surface of the upper ply and along the trimmed edge thereof as it is being trimmed, whereby it is simultaneously stitched in such super- 0 posed edge position over the upper ply of fabric, the mechz'mism effecting that function being the braid-feed on the end of the presserfoot and a coacting specific form of head end on the upper cutting-blade, which takes the 9 5 braid from the presser-foot feed-head and guides it to the trimmed edge of the upper ply of fabric and in the path of the descending needle; next, and finally, the provision of a single supporting means for the two blades of the cutting device, which is slidingly mounted on the same bar which resili- IOO ently carries the presser-foot, so that these elements are always held and guided in operative alinement, not only as respects the two blades relatively to each other, but both of them relatively to the presser-foot, and so that the cutting mechanism can. be thrown out of action (for ordinary sewing, for example) without lifting the preser-foot into inoperative position and so as. also that both devices may be lifted simultaneously from the work by a single lever when desired.

WVe will now describe the mechanism by reference to the drawings. The main portions of the machine proper are well known inthe' art and need not be described nor referred to except in so far as they form connecting elements to which our improvements are attached.

Refering to the drawings, A is the bedplate or. work-support; B, the needle-bar and needle C, the overhanging arm, in which the Ileedle-bar and the presser-foot bar (Z are sup ported and reciprocated, the needle-bar being-reciprocated by the usual power-arm and the resser-foot being lifted. and lowered by the ever (1 against a spring (P, which tends to keep the presser-foot it normally down upon the work-support.

The upper-ply-trimming mechanism consists, essentially, of a lower blade m, (see Fig. 1,) which is adjust-ably mounted on an arm t of the housing or frame hereinafter described. It is lifted and lowered to the work by two independent meansnamely, by raising or lowering of the houisng (through the presser foot-supporting bar d) by means of the presser-foot lever (Z actuating the bar (1; but it is independently raised and lowered from the work by the slotted lever it" (see Fig. 3) hereinafter described. Normally it is suspended immediately over the lower ply of fabric when the presser-foot is down, and therefore passes under the upper ply of fabric. It is operatively stationary during the trimming operation and forms one member of a, shear-like cutting device. The upper cutting member consists of a blade edge 6 Fig. 5, formed on the end of the bell-crank lever b, Fig. 1, which said lever is pivotally mounted on the opposite arm t of said housing or frame and actuated in such manner, hereinafter described, as to rock the lever b and give an up-and-down shearing-blade action to this upper cutting member on the upper surface of the upper ply and relatively to the lower and operatively-stationary lower member, which is suspended over the lower ply and beneath the upper ply.

The rocking movement of the lever b is guided in parallelism with the lower cutting member and with the presses-foot by means such as screw n, (Fig. 3,) let into the lever b, a segmental edge of the screw-head overlapping the presser-foot arm h. The means for mounting these cutting members whereby l through the slot, by a set-screw independently of each other, but are mount- 4 ed so far independently of each other that both together may be lifted and lowered vertically from and to the work-support by raising and lowering said bar d, actuated by the lever d, and the cutting mechanism alone may be raised and lowered by means of the segmentally-slotted lever is, pivotally mounted on said bar (Z, and a pin k on said frame, whereby the latter is slidingly raised on said bar. This housing or frame consists of. a pair of plate-like arms t t, united to and on each side of a centrally-disposed tubular journal-head 8, through which the presserfoot bar (1 passes and upon the upper end of; which the spring d encircling the foot-bar d, rests. The lower end of the bar (1 projects through the tubular journal-heads, and upon said rojecting end the upper part of the arm h o the presser-foot' h is fastened by the screw 7L5 (see Fig. 3) upon one side andon the other side by the clamps s 8. (See Fig. 1.) One of these clamps has a projecting portion 8 which overlaps the arm 25 of the housingand acts more or less to guide the housing when the latter is raised and lowered slidingly on the presserfootsupporting bar (Z. The frame t t s is to have a vertical reciproe catory movement on the resser-foot bar d independent of a like movement of the presser-foot with the said frame, and'to effect this independent vertical reciprocatory movement of the frame 25 t s on the presser-foot bar (Z (see Fig. 3) the slotted lever 7c is pivotally mounted by the screw h' on the projecting, end. of the bar (Z and has a curved slot 76 coacting with the set-screw Win the wall of: the tubular journal-head s. The frame 15 t" .9 may therefore be slidingly raised and low.- ered on the presserfootsupporting bard independently of the raising and lowering of the presser-foot bar, and'both it andthe cutting device may be raised and. lowered together by the lifting of said rod (1 through the lever 61, Fig. 1. The independent movement of the frame t t 8 through the slotted lever 70 is provided in order to independently raise and lower the cutting mechanism. The

cutting mechanism itselfnamely, the cutting-blades, both upper and lowerare mounted upon the opposite side of the said frame, (see Fig. 1,) as will now be described; The arm t of said frame is grooved at g in order to adjustably supp'ort therein the lower member m of the cutting mechanism. That member at its lower end is provided with a: sharpened upwardly-facing cutting edge on a horizontally projecting portion m and at its other end is slotted at m and secured,

g passingpivotally mounted by screw 1) on the lower end of the arm t, and has a rocking motion imparted to 1t, through its upwardlymxtending end I), by means of the rocking mechan- 1 ism presently to be described. enable this upper cutting member to be In order to raised and lowered when the raising-and lowering lever 7r, Fig. 3, acts on the housing or frame, the arm I) is slotted at b, Fig. 1, to i receive a connecting actuating-pin b car- 1 ried by the link I) of the rocking mechan- 1 work by a guide-arm dependingfrom the At its extreme forward end the upper ism.

blade member I) is provided at its blade end with a head If. (Shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and in enlarged section in Fig. 5.) downwardly-facing cutting edge lr. For the purpose of trimming the upper ply nothing of the head end 5 but its cutting edge I), Fig. 5, is essential; but for the purpose of guiding a braid to the trimmed edge of the upper ply, hereinafter fully described, it is formed with said enlarged head which is slotted 3 on the under -face for the passage of the braid and is vertically bored at b to form a needle 1 throat for the .needle to reciprocate through.

The mechanism to rock the lover I), carrying on its end the cutting-head b and constituting the upper cutting member, will now be described.

The actuating-link I) of the lever b is pivotally hung centrally by the screw-pin c on the end of curved arm 0, which is secured upon the end of the overhanging arm C. The lower end of the link I) carries an actuatingpin 6 playing in slot If in the portion 1)" of the lever I), while the free end of the link I)" is I pivotally connected at c to the lower end of the lever-actuating rod 0, and the upper end of the latter is connected in like manner at c" to the actuating-arm 0 which is driven by the cam mechanism, to be described, mounted on the power-shaft D of the machine. (See plan view, Fig. 2.) These latter means for imparting a rocking motion to the upper cutting member I) through the medium of a cam, we consider a most important part of the impovement, as the motion is imparted It has a positively and directly from the power-shaft i same rod f is journaled the hub end of an ac- 1 tuating-arm A reciprocating rotary motion of the rod f through the cam will impart the required like motion to the hub end of the actuating-arm 0''. The opposite and lower end of this arm 0' is fastened by a pivotpin c to the upper end of the upright actuating-a1 m c, which latter, being pivotally connected at c", as aforesaid, with. slotted link I), rocks the pivotally-mounted bell-crank lover I), carrying the upper cutting-blade, as be fore described.

In these devices it is frequently desirable to feed a narrow braid to he superposed upon and along the trimmed edge of the upper ply of material which is to be trimmed and stitched to the under fabric. Usually such na row braid, first mentioned, is fed to the overhanging arm (I; but such feed or guide is inefficient for the purpose, and practically so without other means to guide the braid, because it is usually essential that the braid be fed to the trimmed edge, and not eleswhere, of the upper ply and in the path of the stitch-fmming needle. ()ur means for effecting this result consists of two coacting elements, namely: We dispense with the usual guide arm aforesaid, depending from the overhanging arm of the machine, heretofore employed for this purpr e, and in its place we provide a small projection it, upwardly and inwardly inclined on the extreme end of the prcsser-foot It, and bore through this projection an opening 7L2, (indicated by the dotted lines in Figs] and 3,) said opening performing the function of the narrow braid-guide referred to. l t feeds the braid toward and in parallelism 'with the stitch-framing needle, from whence it is led to the second and coacting element, which guides it with absolute certainty to the needle and along the edge of the trimmed upper ply. This element is as follows, namely: On the end of the upper cutting-blade I) there is an enlarged head [1 (see Fig. 5,) which is recessed on its under face to provide a guiding passage-way for the braid delivered from the PlkSSOFfOOt head 71 before mentioned, and the inner wall of this recess is sharpened to form a downwardly-facing cutting-blade b The head of this cutting member is perforated vertically, as at I)", to provide a needle throat or passage for the reciprocating needle. .l lence, as is obvious, the braid is necessarily fed truly and with certainty, not only along ti 0 trimmed edge of the upper ply, as the trimming proceeds, but delivered with equal accuracy in alinement to and with the needle of the stitch-fmuning mechanism.

Having thus described our ii'ivcntion, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letetrs Patent, is-

1. ln a machine for stitching together layers of material and trimming the upper ply in pattern, comprising stitch-forming mech anism and a vertically-adj ustable and springcontrolled Presser-foot bar,of a frame slidingly mounted on said bar, a trimming mechanism mounted on said sliding frame, and operating shear like on the upper ply of fabric fed between its blades,with means to vertically adjust said frame to bring the trimming mechanism into and out of operative position, said trimming mechanism consisting of an operativelystationary lower cutting-blade, and a cooperating upper cutting member consisting of. a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted on said sliding frame and carrying a blade edge, actuating means independent of the stitch-forming mechanism to rock said lever-blade directly from the main shaft of the machine, and guiding devices to prevent lateral movement of said lever during its rocking movements and maintain said blades in operative shear-like relation.

' 2. In a machine of the class described, a cutting mechanism for trimming an upper ply lying on an under ply, consisting of a lower blade member sharpened on its upper side and having a sidewise-projecting portion and adapted to run in the space between the plies, means to yieldingly support said member operatively stationary, and an upper blade member mounted on the same support and adapted to cooperate as a shear-blade relatively to said lower member, a pivotally mounted lever carrying said upper blade, means independent of the stitch-forming mechanism to rock said lever, and means between the two blade members operating to maintain the rocking member in a vertical plane parallel with. the lower blade member.

3. In a machine of the class described, a trimming mechanism comprising, in combination, a vertically-disposed rod depending from the overhanging arm of the machine, a housing or frame mounted slidingly on said rod, a presser-foot mounted on the end of said rod which projects through the housing, a spring encircling the rod above the housing, a lever fulcrumed on said overhanging arm, operating to simultaneously raise and lower both the presser-foot and said housing or frame, a lower cutting member fixedly mounted on said housing and resting operatively stationary on the lower ply of material when the presser-foot is down, an upper cutting member consisting of a lever pivotally mounted on said housing and carrying on one end a blade edge in cooperating shearlike relation to the lower blade, with means to rock the opposite end of said lever.

4. In a machine of the class described, a trimming device consisting essentially ofa housing or frame. slidingly mounted on a rod depending from the overhanging arm of the machine, a presser-foot mounted on the end of said rod which projects through the, housing, a spring encircling the rod above the housing, a lever fulcrumed on said overhanging arm, operating to simultaneously raise and lower both the presser-foot and said housing or frame, a lower cutting member fixedly mounted on said housing and suspended operatively stationary over the lower ply of material when the presser-foot is down, an upper cuttin member consisting of a lever pivotally mounted. on said housing and carrying on one end a blade edge in cooperating shear-like relation to the lower blade, means to rock the opposite end of said lever, and means to raise and lower both cutting members independently of the presserfoot.

5. In a machine of the class described, a cutting mechanism for trimming an upper ply lying on an under ply, consisting of a lower blade member with means to suspend it over the lower ply and in the space between the plies, means to support said member operatively stationary during the cutting action, an upper blademember mounted on the same support and adapted to cooperate as a shear-blade relatively to said lower member, a pivotally-mounted bell-crank lever carrying said upper blade, with means to rock said lever, a presser-foot mounted on the end of a rod depending from the overhanging arm of the machine and passing through said frame supporting the cutting members, and a segmentally-slotted leverarm fulcrumed on the shank of the presserfoot and coacting with a pin on the frame which supports both cutting members, said slotted lever operating to raise and lower the two cutting members independently of the resser-foot and independently of the means to raise and lower the presser-foot.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a vertically-movable rod supporting a resser-foot, a spring-controlled frame mounted slidingly on said rod and carrying both members of a cutting mechanism, means to raise and lower thepresser-foot and the cutting mechanism, as one, through the medium of said rod, and devices upon the said sliding frame whereby the cutting mechanism may be raised and lowered independently of the presser-foot.

7. In a machine of the class described the combination with stitch-forming mechanism, of a vertically-movable bar supporting a Dresser-foot, a spring-controlled frame slidingly mounted on said presser-foot bar, a pair of cutting members independently mounted in said sliding-frame, means to support the lower of said cutting members in operatively-fixed position relatively to the work-support, means to give a rocking motion to the upper of said cutting means, and means to throw the cutting device into inoperative position consisting of devices to slide the frame on the presser-foot bar and into temporarily-fixed position thereon.

8. In a machine of the class described, the

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combination with stitch-forming mechanism, of a vertically-movable presser-foot mounted on a depending rod, a spring controlled frame mounted slidingly on said rod and carrying both members of a shear-like cutting 9. In a machine of the class described com- 1 prising stitch-forming devices, a work-supi port, and a vertically-adjustable presser-foot bar carrying a resser-foot, of a frame mounted slidingly on said bar, above the presserfoot, and independently supporting each of the two members of a cutting mechanism, means to vertically adjust said frame to throw said cutting members into and out of operative position, independently of the presserfoot, said cutting mechanism consisting of a lower cutting-blade supported operatively stationary relatively to the worksupport, and an upper cutting-blade whose actuating-arm is a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted upon said frame, with means to impart a rocking motion thereto in unison of time with the operation of the stitch-forming mechanism, said means comprising the power-shaft from which the stitch-forming mechanism is primarily actuated, a cam mounted on said shaft, a forked lever actuated by said cam, and connecting actuating means between said forked lever and the short arm of the pivotally-mounted bellcrank lever carrying said upper cutting blade, and operating to rock said last-mentioned lever.

10. I11 a machine of the class described, in combination with stitch-forming devices, of a presser-foot having a shank or arm mounted on the end of a rod depending from the overhanging arm of the machine, a frame slidingly mounted on the lower portion of said rod, a lower cutting member mounted on said frame, an upper cutting-blade on the end of a pivot ally-mounted lever fulcrumed on said frame, a pivoted link with pin-and-slot connection between it and the lever, a cam on the powershaft of the machine, and connecting actuating mechanism between said link-arm and cam, operating to rock the upper cuttingblade from said power-shaft and in unison of time with the stitch-forming elements.

11. In a machine of the class described,

the combination with stitch-forming devices,

and of mechanism coacting in unison of time with the stitch-forming devices to trim the upper-ply fabric to a pattern, of a presserfoot operating not only to hold the fabric to the feed but to guide a braid to the surface of the upper ply, said presser-foot having a perforated braii'l-guiding head, and said trimming mechanism comprising an upper cutting member perforated to provide a needlethroat and recessed on its under face to provide a braid-guide, whereby the braid is guided with certainty to the needle and to and along the trimmed edge of the fabric.

12. In a machine of the class described, a trimming 'inechanism consisting of a lower cutting member suspended operatively stationary beneath the upper ply, and having on its free end an upwardly-facing cuttingblade, means to yieldingly support said cutting-blade in substantially the same plane with the presser-foot in operative position, and an upper cutting member consisting of a pivotally-mounted lever cooperating shear like with the lower blade member, with means to impart a rocking movement thereto, said upper cutting member having on its free end an enlarged head vertically perforated for the passage of the sewing-needle and on its under face a recess for the passage of the braid, one wall of said recess being sharpened to form a downwardlyfacing blade edge.

13. In a machine of the class described, the combination with stitch-forming devices, and of mechanism coacting in unison of time with the stitch-forming devices to trim the upper-ply fabric to a pattern, of mechanisms to guide a braid to the edge of the trimmed upper ply, said mechanisms consisting of a presser-foot provided with a perforated head end operating to guide a braid therethrough to the surface of the upper ply, and a cutting device the lower member of which is operatively stationary beneath the upper ply and the upper member of which is a rocking lever having an enlarged end vertically recessed to provide a needle-throat and with a longitudinal recess on, its under face providing a passage for the braid delivered from the presserfoot head, one wall of said longitudinal recess being sharpened to form a blade edge.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto a'llixed our signatures this 30th day of August, A. D. 1904.

JOSEPH ZELDIS. JACOB M. WEBER. Witnesses:

HENRY 'l. GULLMANN, A. M. BIDDLE. 

